Written by Gary
Markets Closed deeply in the red after Yellen’s no change in the inter rest rates yesterday. The weekend is a welcome pause so the markets can adjust.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Wall St. falls as Fed stokes growth concerns NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday as the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates near zero stoked concerns about the potential impact of weak global growth on U.S. corporate earnings. | |
Fed uncertainty weighs on European markets and prompts dollar to dropLONDON (AP) — Stock markets mostly fell Friday, particularly in Europe, as investors were left in limbo following the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep U.S. interest rates unchanged at a record low. Though the Fed had not been expected to raise interest rates for the first time in more than nine years, investors appeared worried by the lack of guidance from the central bank and its concern about the global economy. In its accompanying policy statement, the Fed revealed worries that “recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near-term”. Though Fed Chair Janet Yellen said a rate hike this year is possible, much depends on incoming economic data — and that only adds to the uncertainty for investors. | |
Ex-Wells CEO says Bank of America investors should back off (Reuters) – Former Wells Fargo chairman and chief executive Richard Kovacevich said that Bank of America shareholders are wrong to try to strip Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan of his chairman title. | |
Exclusive: Petco begins merger talks with PetSmart – sources NEW YORK (Reuters) – Petco Holdings Inc is exploring the possibility of being acquired by PetSmart Inc, according to people familiar with the matter, in a merger that could create a company that accounts for 30 percent of U.S. pet specialty supplies stores. | |
U.S. crude tumbles 5 percent; Wall Street selloff offsets rig data NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices tumbled on Friday, with U.S. crude falling 5 percent, after a selloff in Wall Street equities offset positive impact to crude from a third weekly decline in the U.S. oil rig count. | |
Fed Opens Negative Interest Rate Pandora’s Box: What Happens NextAs we already commented extensively, while the Fed’s dovish non-hike was a violent surprise for the market, and has led to what may be the first thoroughly unanticipated (at least by the market) policy mistake by the Federal Reserve (judging by the market), the biggest news was the very symbolic, yet all too ominous, negative interest rate forecast in the Fed’s projection materials by one FOMC member. This was the first time in Fed history that an FOMC member has on the record predicted NIRP in the US. Janey Yellen’s subsequent non-denial during the press conference did not exactly inspire hope that the Fed was just “joking”:
Furthermore, when considering that virtually all of Europe is already flooded by NIRP, and earlier Bank of England’s Andy Haldane, one of the otherwise more rational members of the central bank, advocated negative rates in the UK, one ca … | |
Volkswagen could face $18 billion penalties from EPA WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG faces penalties up to $18 billion after being accused of designing software for diesel cars that deceives regulators measuring toxic emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday. | |
Why The Fed’s Credibility Is Crashing: The Market’s Three Biggest WorriesEarly this week, when evaluating the likelihood of a Fed rate hike, we cited RBS’ Alberto Gallo who said the “real reason to hike is another one: preventing the debt $-denominated overhangs from building up further — the burst of which would be, in turn, even more deflationary (and the same imbalances resulting from a financial boom can also reduce productivity, as discussed by the IMF). So if the Fed’s mandate is to worry about the medium-term and to target structural issues vs today’s asset prices, the right thing to do would be to hike. This is also what the majority of institutional investors think. But the Fed won’t.” Why not? Because the Fed itself realizes its credibility is fading fast and as RBS also showed as per a recent survey of its clients, a whopping 63% replied that the Fed is losing credibility. In other words, it has little to lose by doing what will erode its credibility that much more. Yesterday the Fed confirmed this was the case when it once again chickened out of its first rate hike in 9 years and took the easy way out, one which however confirmed to everyone that the Fed is increasingly gambling with what precious little credibility it still has left. As a reminder, if and when the Fed loses all trust, its only recourse will be to print boxes of cash and paradrop them on the population. Pardon, boxes of paper because at that point the US reserve will be worthless. We are not there yet, but as RBS notes in its follow up no … | |
Sprint says to expand roaming to Cuba SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Sprint Corp said it plans to expand roaming to Cuba but did not offer a set time frame or any additional details. | |
WTI Crude Clubbed To $44 Handle As Growth Fears MountGrowth hope, production cuts, and geopolitical premia were so Wednesday… Crude gives up the week’s gains after being up over 7% as it appears the big hedges are being lifted and underlying longs reduced… Charts: Bloombeg | |
New Data Reveals U.S. Far From Freest Country In The WorldSubmitted by John Vibes via TheAntiMedia.org, According to the annual Economic Freedom of the World report, the United States has dropped to #16 in an index of economic freedom. The list, released by the Fraser Institute, ranks countries around the world by a number of different factors that include the size and scope of government: expenditures, taxes, enterprises, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor, and business were all evaluated. The study also considered income levels and poverty rates. As the introduction of the study details:
At the top of the list was Hong Kong, followed by … | |
Apple customers report devices crashing on iOS 9 update SAN FRANCISCO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – A significant number of Apple Inc customers are reporting their mobile devices have crashed after attempting to upload the new iOS 9 operating system, the latest in a line of launch glitches for the tech giant. | |
Census Data Confirms: There Was No Economic Recovery Unless You Were Already RichSubmitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, This is the perfect note for a post-Fed day, where once again America’s Banana Republic central planning statists were too petrified to raise interest rates. The Fed has now missed the entire economic cycle without raising rates once. All you can do now is sit back, relax and wait for all hell to break loose. Recently released data from the Census Bureau is nothing short of devastating to anyone who has been pushing the absurd meme of a strong U.S. economy. There is simply no way one can look at this data and not conclude that the last seven years has been nothing more than an upward redistribution of wealth crafted by the Federal Reserve. As I’ve said many, many times before, central bankers should be tried for crimes against humanity for what they have done. From Bloomberg:
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Trader’s Risky Bet Goes Awry in CourtroomFormer trader Tom Hayes waited years for his day in court. But when he finally tells his side of the story, things don’t turn out as planned. | |
Crude Pops As US Oil Rig Count Drops For 3rd Week To 2-Month LowsFollowing 2 weeks of notable rig count declines (to its lowest in 2 months), Baker Hughes reports another decline (the first 3 week decline in 3 months). Total rig count fell to 842 from 848 but oil rigs declined 8 to 644. Crude prices were weak heading into the data (post Fed) and popped after… *U.S. OIL RIG COUNT DOWN 8 TO 644 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS *U.S. TOTAL RIG COUNT DOWN 6 842 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS This is the biuggest 3-week declinein 4 months.. Charts: Bloomberg | |
Florida voted 21.7 million shares ‘against’ BofA board structure change BOSTON (Reuters) – Florida pension officials said Friday they have voted 21.7 million shares of Bank of America Corp stock “against” bylaw changes that allowed the bank to combine its chairman and chief executive roles. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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